This is a working-through-my-process kind of post. I’m just starting out. I’m still working things out. And I’m deciding where I’m going.

So. I’m neither an expert on blogging or on Instagram. But I do use both. I started writing on Instagram not knowing how to use it. I wasn’t even a follower of anyone. But I had words coming out of me, and a compulsion to share them somewhere. I had photos, as well, and my own sense of what I wanted to do. I had no expectations that anyone would read anything and no intention to share widely. I wasn’t looking for a large audience. Just the right one. Which I did.

I like Instagram because it is very immediate. I take a photo and write a few words. Then I get a response right away with a ‘like’ or a comment. I really enjoy the connection and sometimes there would be a conversation. Perhaps blogging is the same but without a word count limit? I’m still working this out along some other things. (Pingbacks? Tags? My WP avatar? I don’t know 😕)

Anyway, why did I start a blog? It’s another experiment, I suppose. My initial thought was to move content from IG. I would be able to expand my thoughts and write longer form pieces. Perhaps I was looking for a new and wider audience? I didn’t plan to keep writing on both platforms. But it seems that I am. Different words seem to belong in each space. This piece is not for Instagram, for example. Other pieces are. So each of my pages has a different identity, but they are both mine. They both reflect something of me.

I also sense, no, I know, that having a blog is another way to step out of what feels comfortable. Because if I’m honest, stepping out of my comfort zone is really what my current journey – including writing – is all about. When I began writing, it was a new thing for me. Not in the sense that I’d never done it before, but now I was sharing what I thought and what I felt. I was sharing ‘me’.

I was letting other people read what I wrote. At first, it was scary and I was very nervous. But then, less and less so. Looking back, this was all, or mostly, about revealing myself. I was stepping out of the shadows or the limitations of other people’s expectations and understanding of who I am. And, of course, I was freeing myself from my own.

For me, writing and posting on Instagram and now blogging, is really about becoming visible. Because for much of my life, I realise that I’ve tried to be ‘invisible’. It took me forever to attach my name (even my first name) to my words. And it took even longer to post a photo. But there it is now. And here I am! Wondering, where to next? 🤔😊